“On Monday, May 22, a criminal court in the capital city of Santiago [Chile] sentenced [Víctor] Herrero, editor of the independent news website Interferencia, on defamation charges and ordered him to pay the legal costs of the trial and a fine of 126,000 Chilean pesos (US $157), according to news reports, a report by his outlet, and Herrero, who communicated with CPJ by messaging app.
Herrero said his lawyer would file an appeal, adding that paying the legal expenses for the trial could force Interferencia, which he founded in 2018, to shut down.
‘Chilean authorities should not contest journalist Víctor Herrero’s appeal and must stop using outdated criminal defamation laws to threaten members of the press with fines and prison time for their work,’ said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York. ‘Defamation should never be handled as a criminal matter, and such laws have no place in a democracy.’”
